Mistral raised €3B led by Samsung at a €21B valuation, up from €11.7B a year ago, as it expands to building data centers instead of solely developing AI models (Adam Satariano/New York Times)

Mistral secured €3 billion in fresh financing, led by Samsung, raising its valuation to €21 billion from €11.7 billion a year earlier. The funding will finance a pivot from pure AI-model development to building its own data-center infrastructure, positioning the company to compete with U.S. and Chinese rivals and offer a European AI alternative.